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Guide to the M. Phil. in Medieval History
Course Co-ordinator: Dr. Katharine Simms
Attendance and course requirements
Requirements for obtaining academic credit
Assessment
The M.Phil. Dissertation
Welcome to the M.Phil Programme in Medieval History. The course lasts for one calendar year from the beginning of October, and requires full time study. Candidates are assessed by a combination of course papers and a short dissertation.
Applications are normally accepted only from persons with a good honors degree in history, or a cognate subject such as art history, archaeology, classics with ancient history, geography, social anthropology etc.
It is vitally important that students should contact the Course Coordinator, Dr. Katharine Simms, at or shortly before the beginning of Michaelmas Semester in order to discuss arrangements for the course. Please feel free to come and see any member of staff in office hours if you encounter any particular problems.
Attendance and course requirements
The course covers two full semesters, 1st or Michaelmas, and 2nd or Hilary semester. In each students are required to attend regularly in the following elements
(i) Medieval Latin - Beginners', Intermediate and Reading Level. (Ms. Emily Lefebvre)
Students will be assigned to an appropriate level after an initial interview with Ms Lefebvre. Students are expected to attend regularly and do the necessary preparation and exercises. The course will concentrate on the recognition, understanding and usage of noun endings, verb endings and on basic medieval vocabulary.
(ii) Palaeography (Dr Gráinne McLaughlin)
Taken in Hilary semester. All students are assumed to be beginners. Teaching materials will be provided and students are expected to attend regularly and do the necessary preparation and exercises.
(iii) Supervised Reading
Each student will be allocated to a member of staff as supervisor, who should be a specialist in an area covering or related to the student’s proposed thesis topic. Staff members’ areas of specialisation will be seen from the list of sophister lecture courses given below, and the supervisor would normally advise the student to audit the course closest to their research topic. A list naming the supervisor for each student will be posted early in Michaelmas semester. The topic of the student's dissertation will be chosen in consultation with the supervisor who will also direct the student's work generally. Regular contact with the supervisor is essential and it is the student's responsibility to ensure that he/she sees his/her supervisor regularly i.e. once a week. Staff will post times when they are available to see students.
Titles of current sophister lecture courses:
Edward I, Edward II and the Conquest of Britain 1286-1328 (D. Ditchburn)
Gaelic Society in the later Middle ages (M. K. Simms)
Medieval Dublin (S. Duffy)
The Archaeology of Medieval Castles and Military Fortifications, 1000-1350 (T. B. Barry)
Empire and Papacy in the Eleventh Century (I. S. Robinson unavailable 2009-10)
The Carolingian Empire (I.S. Robinson unavailable 2009-10)
Early Christian Ireland (M.K. Simms)
Renaissance Florence (D. Ditchburn unavailable 2009-10)
Medieval Religion (D. Ditchburn)
In relation to these courses, candidates should note that the full range may not be available in every year, owing to sabbaticals or other considerations but every effort will be made to accommodate individual interests. Enquiries should be addressed to the course coordinator (Dr. Katharine Simms (Tel. 353-1-8961790 or email mksimms@tcd.ie or medieval.history@tcd.ie )
A weekly two-hour post-graduate research seminar,
including the presentation and defence of two research papers in Hilary semester. There is no limitation as to topic (providing it relates to the Middle Ages) but it is suggested that a preliminary essay in Michaelmas semester should be on a text or source in the area related to the student's special interests and that the papers read in Hilary semester should relate to the area in which the student proposes to write the dissertation. In the case of the second of these the oral presentation will be assessed by those members of staff present, and will form part of the internal departmental grades for this course.
Generic Skills course
Students taking any of the M.phil. courses in the School of Histories and Humanities are also required to attend a course on Generic Research Skills. The range of skills any student needs to acquire will be determined in consultation with the course co-ordinator, and credit is obtained by recorded attendance.
Approaches to Historical Research
Candidates taking the three History Mphil courses also take a shared seminar series (1 hour a week) on Approaches to Historical Research.
The Medieval Research Centre at 192 Pearse Street is open to M.Phil. students. They will be given the internal key and the code for the external door, and can use the centre and its resources at any time, but no book may be removed from the centre.
Requirements for obtaining academic credit
Michaelmas and Hilary semesters:
Regular attendance at courses and Post Graduate Seminars the performance of any oral or written work required by the teachers of these courses and the reading and defence of two seminar papers in the Hilary Semester.
* The taking of a one-hour test in Latin at the end of Michaelmas Semester
* The taking of a two-hour test in Latin at the end of Hilary Semester
These tests will seek to ascertain whether students have mastered noun endings, verb endings and basic vocabulary. The test at the end of Hilary semester will include a passage for translation from Latin to English.
* The taking of a test in Palaeography at the end of Hilary semester
Each student must write one essay relating to their course in Michaelmas and Hilary semesters, the subject to be negotiated with the lecturer in charge of the course, and a written version of the final seminar presentation in Hilary semester.
Assessment
Marks will be awarded (in percentage form) for the first two essays in Michaelmas and Hilary semesters and for the final Hilary semester essay in both its written form and as a seminar presentation.
Marks will be awarded (in percentage form) for the tests in Latin and Palaeography (the mark for the Latin test at the end of Michaelmas term will be for information only and will not be taken into account for assessment purposes).
Students will be assessed for the coursework element of the M.Phil. on the basis of an aggregate of these marks (except for the first Latin test). These marks do not count towards the award of the M.Phil. degree, but students are required to obtain at least a pass overall in order to be allowed to submit a dissertation on the basis of which the M.Phil. is awarded.
Students who are judged not to have fulfilled the conditions detailed above or to have failed to reach a sufficient standard in their assessment will not be allowed to proceed to the preparation of the dissertation and thus will not be eligible for the award of the M.Phil., but will be given a letter detailing their attendance and performance in the course.
The M. Phil. Dissertation
The M.Phil. is awarded on the basis of a minor dissertation arising out of the special course selected under A (iii) and involving substantial use of primary source material. The selection of a subject and preparation for the dissertation should begin no later than the beginning of the Hilary semester, and this should be carried out in consultation with the supervisor. The subject of the dissertation should have been agreed with the supervisor concerned not later than the first week of Hilary semester. Students will be offered guidance on sources, bibliography, the form and scope of their dissertation and on formal aspects such as footnoting and presentation of bibliography, but are advised to ensure that their dissertations are well underway by the end of June, since they cannot expect their supervisors to be readily available for consultation during the Long Vacation period (mid July to mid September). Supervisors will read and comment on material in draft form at the final stages of preparation.
The dissertation should be approximately 20,000 words in length, and two copies typed or computer printed, bound (initially soft-bound), and lettered in accordance with the requirements of the Graduate Studies Office, must be presented to the Course Coordinator by 30 September. In emergencies, students may apply to the course coordinator (with the support of their dissertation supervisor) to avail of the ‘Dean’s Grace’, or permission to extend deadline to 31st October.
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